REDMOND -- After a two-day raid, federal agents seized nearly 8,000 disassembled assault rifle kits from a warehouse here, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

Special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives suspect the kits are illegal because they were imported without modifications to prevent them from being converted from semiautomatic rifles to fully-automatic machine guns, which are illegal to import or possess in the United States.

In an affidavit for a warrant to search P.W. Arms Inc., a firearms importer located at 8525 152nd St. in Redmond, an ATF special agent detailed the investigation. In early 2000, it states, the Redmond company began negotiating with an arms dealer in Chile to import 25,000 Brazilian-made IMBEL FN/FAL assault rifle kits.

The FAL, also known as LAF or Light Automatic Rifle, is used as a military rifle in many countries. It's also popular among collectors in the United States, but it's legal only if modified for semiautomatic use only.

P. W. Arms was working as an agent to Dan's Sporting Goods Inc., a Pennsylvania arms dealer, when a representative from Dan's went to Chile to inspect a shipment in July 2000, the affidavit states. The representative from Dan's signed a contract to purchase the kits for $85 each.

The contract also included a diagram instructing how the kits should be broken down and deactivated, the ATF said. But that diagram, which conforms to how previously obtained samples of the shipment were found, does not render the weapons semiautomatic only, according to ATF agents who inspected the diagram and sample kits.

The president of P. W. Arms -- who isn't being named because he hasn't been charged with a crime -- signed an identical contract with the Chilean dealer about the same time, the ATF said.

A year later, P.W. Arms and Dan's Sporting Goods began disputing the contract, and wound up in U.S. District Court under a civil suit filed by the Chilean dealer. During sworn depositions, the ATF said, a P.W. Arms official admitted to approving the deactivation methods for the kits to be shipped.

The P.W. Arms official also testified that his company had roughly 8,800 of the kits stored at its Redmond warehouse plus another 10,000 or more in a warehouse in Apollo, Penn.

The search warrant affidavit states that P.W. Arms called several dealers, trying to sell the kits for $125 each, but were turned down repeatedly when dealers questioned their legality. One dealer told the ATF that the president of P.W. Arms would not assure him the rifles were legal.

Top officials for P.W. Arms could not be reached by telephone Thursday. A spokesman for Dan's, reached in Pennsylvania, said he had no knowledge of the ATF investigation and therefore could not comment.

In addition to the nearly 8,000 rifle kits, ATF agents also seized financial records, computer hardware and at least two assembled IMBEL FN/FAL rifles from the W.P. warehouse, according to a warrant return inventory filed in court.

ATF spokesman Scott McKenna said Thursday no one had been arrested in this case, but the investigation was ongoing. He said it was too soon to determine whether anyone associated with P.W. Arms or Dan's would face criminal charges.

SEARCH DECISIONS BUSINESS LAWS REGULATIONS FIREARMS GUN CONTROL PHOTO: By David Nelson/Redmond Reporter: An agent with ATF examines pallets seized after a raid on P.W. Arms Inc. in Redmond on Wednesday.

Special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives suspect the kits are illegal because they were imported without modifications to prevent them from being converted from semiautomatic rifles to fully-automatic machine guns, which are illegal to import or possess in the United States.

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Really! I didn't know my Uzi was illegal! It's bad enough that people don't know FA weapons ARE legal in many states, but half the time people on gun boards don't even know it.

I hope those get released! I have a real nice DSA kit and a Imbel receiver but I never built the rifle. Need to do that.

It's bad enough that people don't know FA weapons ARE legal in many states, but half the time people on gun boards don't even know it.

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I spoke with my state senator about these things and he said he thought all the laws were related to the federal governments not the states. He was suprised when I told him in other states you can own a FA or suppressor as long as you paid the $200 fee. He asked me to send him the laws so he can understand it. I have decided to contact the NRA and have them talk to him directly as he was interested in seeing what might be done.

"This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector" - Plato

It's bad enough that people don't know FA weapons ARE legal in many states, but half the time people on gun boards don't even know it.

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I spoke with my state senator about these things and he said he thought all the laws were related to the federal governments not the states. He was suprised when I told him in other states you can own a FA or suppressor as long as you paid the $200 fee. He asked me to send him the laws so he can understand it. I have decided to contact the NRA and have them talk to him directly as he was interested in seeing what might be done.

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Thats outstanding Clyde, good for you, bring him into the gun light, and get him rolling for your rights

"The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."